Bulls Complete Sweep of Buffalo

The Durham Bulls completed a sweep of the Buffalo Bisons on Thursday, winning 7-2 at the DBAP. The victory gave the Bulls sole possession of first place in the IL South for the first time since April 30. It was also Durham's first four-game sweep since June 22-25 last year, which was the last time the Bisons came to town.

For the third straight night, the Bulls had to battle back from behind, after Buffalo scored a pair in a first inning highlighted by Mauro Gomez's eleventh home run of the year.

The Bulls got one back on a Leslie Anderson RBI single in the first, his fifth-straight hit after going 4-for-4 last night. It was also the fourth straight game the Bulls scored in the game's opening frame.

The third inning was the big inning for the Bulls. Tim Beckham doubled in Vince Belnome and Wil Myers, and then scored ahead of Mike Fontenot on Cole Figueroa's double. The Bulls added a run in the fifth on Fontenot's RBI double, and another in the seventh on Anderson's homer to right, his seventh of the year.

J.D. Martin (W, 7-2, 3.59) outdueled Josh Johnson (L, 0-1, 6.23), who was making his second rehab start after going on the MLB disabled list earlier this year. Martin won his league-leading seventh game, giving up two runs in six innings. No other pitcher in the International League has won six yet this season, giving Martin a two-win edge on the rest of the league. Johnson allowed six earned runs in his 4.2 innings of work.

Belnome went 0-for-3, ending his 18-game hitting streak, which tied for the longest in the IL this season. He did walk to extend his on-base streak to 21 straight games. Steve Geltz pitched the final three innings for his second save of the year.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders come to town tomorrow for the Yankees' top farm team's only appearance of the season. The four-game set opens Friday night at 7:05pm. Former Bull Chris Bootcheck (5-0, 2.82) will be facing his former team in the opener.